Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers were indisputably one of the greatest jazz groups of all time. Blakey's band served as a proving ground for generations of jazz giants, and many of the songs written for the band are classics.
One of the most artistically fertile periods in the band's history was from 1961 to 1964, when the front line consisted of Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, and Curtis Fuller on trombone. All of these men, in addition to being great soloists, were also composers and contributed to the band's library. Unfortunately, much of their music has never been available as sheet music.
It is therefore with great pleasure that we announce our Blakey Standards series. We have transcribed almost all of the original compositions on four classic Jazz Messengers albums:
Ugetsu, Mosaic, Caravan, and
Free For All. These transcriptions have been rigorously edited and proofed by
David Weiss, a New York trumpet player and longtime musical collaborator with Freddie Hubbard. In several cases, we have referenced the leadsheets on file with the Library of Congress to assure the utmost accuracy. Over the next week or two, we will be releasing these charts for purchase! We hope you find as much reward in performing these classic compositions as we found in transcribing and studying them.
